Rangers sign two former Brewers in Friday night free agent frenzy

Prior to Friday night, the Texas Rangers were one of the few remaining MLB teams who had yet to sign a major league free agent this offseason. It's a list that the Milwaukee Brewers narrowly avoided by agreeing to a deal with Akil Baddoo earlier in the week. On top of that, despite it technically not coming by way of a free agent contract, the Brewers added a major league free agent back to their roster when Brandon Woodruff accepted the qualifying offer last month.

The Rangers, however, find themselves in a tricky spot this offseason. In what was essentially the opposite of the strategy that Milwaukee has adopted during their current stretch of sustained success, the Rangers basically went "all in" for their 2023 World Series title, and their payroll is feeling the impact. Already, Texas sent Marcus Semien, one of their two major middle infield free agent signings that led to their World Series championship, to the New York Mets in an effort to lower their 2026 payroll. Prior to that move, Texas was forced to non-tender Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim, two talented players whose growing arbitration salaries didn't allow the Rangers to keep them on their roster.

Meanwhile, Texas is also facing a swath of vacancies in their bullpen that need replacing, leaving them in a very tricky spot as the offseason continues. On Friday night, however, Rangers fans were given at least some relief, as their team agreed to free agent contracts with three players: two relief pitchers and a catcher to replace Heim. Interestingly enough, two of those three players were members of the Milwaukee Brewers at one point during the 2025 season.

Texas Rangers agree to contracts with former Brewers Danny Jansen and Tyler Alexander on Friday night

Texas' Friday night free agent frenzy kicked off with a report from FanSided's own Robert Murray that the organization had agreed to a two-year, $14.5 million contract with eight-year MLB veteran Danny Jansen. A graduate of Appleton West High School in central Wisconsin, Jansen was traded to his hometown team at the 2025 MLB trade deadline, in a deal that sent infield prospect Jadher Areinamo to the Tampa Bay Rays. Jansen appeared in just 25 games for the Brewers during the final two months of the regular season, but posted a solid slash line of .254/.346/.433, heavily influenced by a strong month of September. Due to William Contreras' workhorse mentality, Jansen didn't make a single appearance in the postseason, but his contributions to the Brewers’ memorable 2025 squad will not soon be forgotten.

Jansen now joins a Rangers team where he will compete with fellow right-hander Kyle Higashioka for the starting job. Interestingly enough, Jansen's $7.75 million average annual salary that he will make over the next two seasons is higher than the $6 million salary MLB Trade Rumors projected Heim to earn this season, meaning the Rangers essentially paid $1.75 million to cut ties with their own player in favor of a slight upgrade in Jansen. It's a puzzling move for a team trying to cut payroll in any way possible, but there's certainly a lot to like about Jansen, who was one of the better catchers available on the free agent market this winter.

Upgrading at catcher wasn't the only move that the Rangers made on Friday night; they also signed relief pitchers Alexis Díaz and Tyler Alexander. The latter spent the first two months of the 2025 season with the Brew Crew, serving as valuable, versatile pitching depth during a time when Milwaukee was plagued by injuries to their starting staff. Alexander was used as a starting pitcher, a multi-inning reliever, and even as a high-leverage, one-inning relief arm. Despite showing some promise during a two-week stretch in early May, Alexander's 6.19 ERA was difficult to justify as more and more injured Brewers returned to the roster. Ultimately, Milwaukee decided to designate Alexander for assignment, after which he landed with the Chicago White Sox, where his results improved slightly.

Alexander and Díaz's deals were reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan, and no financial figures are known at this time, but for context, the Brewers handed Alexander a modest $1 million contract last offseason, and Díaz spent much of the season in Triple-A, so neither contract is expected to break the bank, if they are even major league deals, which is no guarantee.

While Alexander didn't make much sense for the Brewers this offseason, there was some reason to believe that Milwaukee might bring Jansen back on a short-term deal. The Brewers still need to add a third catcher to their 40-man roster, and with some uncertainty about the readiness level of top prospect Jeferson Quero, some expected Milwaukee to bring in a proven veteran like Jansen to back up Contreras. However, at $7.75 million a year for the next two seasons, Jansen was likely out of the Brewers' budget that they've set for adding a third catcher to the mix.